[6] In 1753, the Ecumenical Patriarchate entrusted Eugenios Voulgaris with the renewal of ecclesiastical education because it considered that he possessed the best available talents and offered him the post of the Academy's director.

[5] The time when Voulgaris became director of the Athonias (1753–1759), the modern Greek Enlightenment movement was exerting a productive influence throughout the entire monastic community of Mount Athos.

[7] The teaching methods of Voulgaris for the revival and upgrading of learning within the Orthodox Church envisaged a substantial training in classic studies combined with an exposure to modern European philosophy, including works of René Descartes, Gottfried Leibniz, Christian Wolff and John Locke.

This curriculum could only be taught in a monastic environment for as long as Voulgaris enjoyed the full and unswerving support of the highest powers inside the church.

[5] When Cyril V fell from the patriarchal throne conservative circles of Mount Athos were encouraged to come out openly against the progressive educational methods of Voulgaris.